The world got a little smaller this month for 17 first graders from Hope Christian School in Bristol Township.
The students talked SpongeBob and magnets with first graders from Mexico City during a videoconference at Chestnut Hill College.
Their teacher, Karen Gibbon, worked on the project with Global Education Motivators, headquartered at the college. The nonprofit organization was established to help schools meet the challenges of a global society.
The two first-grade classes presented science experiments on magnets, then talked about the weather, cartoon characters and career goals during the 45-minute session.
"The science unit turned into a wonderful, social-studies life experience," Gibbon said. "We had an opportunity to see the children face to face and hear their voices live. There's no other opportunity like that for first graders except flying on a plane to experience another culture, another land and another people."
Sabrina Cusimano, director of educational outreach for Global Education Motivators and a graduate of Hope Christian School, said the videoconferencing program is designed primarily for students in sixth through 12th grades. Hope Christian was one of five elementary schools scheduled to participate in the program this school year.
Gibbon said her students discovered that the English-speaking Mexican children wanted to be teachers, doctors, dancers and athletes when they grew up.
"They realized we had the same goals, that we are so much alike," she said.